Hattiesburg board open schools chief search soon

Published 2:45 am, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Members of the Hattiesburg Public School District Board of Trustees will turn to the Mississippi School Boards Association to help them with the search for a superintendent to replace James Bacchus, who resigned the post in December.

The Hattiesburg American reports (http://hatne.ws/1RjIOwx) Bacchus left the district with a deficit in the 2014-15 budget, which interim superintendent Greg Ladner has been addressing with a spending freeze, salary cuts and layoffs.

Board president Marcus Cathey said members met in executive session at a special called meeting Thursday to begin discussing how they would replace Ladner.

Cathey said the board will rely on the Mississippi School Boards Association because it has a great deal of experience in superintendent searches.

The last time the board conducted a search was in 2010 when it ultimately selected Bacchus.